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Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is a major community-acquired pathogen. The emergence of drug-resistant strains like, methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA), poses stiff challenges to therapeutic intervention. Passive immune-therapy with specific antibodies is being actively examined to treat fulminant infections with limited success. In this study, we demonstrate that P4, a 28-amino acid peptide, derived from pneumococcal surface adhesin A along with pathogen-specific antibody (IVIG; P4 therapy) is successful in enhancing the opsonophagocytic killing (OPK) of S. aureus in vitro. We questioned if it is possible to expand P4 therapy to treat staphylococcal infections in vivo. P4 therapy in combination with IVIG rescued 7/10 morbidly ill S. aureus-infected mice while only 2/10 survived in the control group.

New treatment strategies are urgently needed to overcome early mortality in acute bacterial infections. Previous studies have shown that administration of a novel immunoactivating peptide (P4) alongside passive immunotherapy prevents the onset of sep...

Prolonged excretion of poliovirus can occur in immunodeficient patients who receive oral polio vaccine, which may lead to propagation of highly divergent vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs), posing a concern for global polio eradication. This study ...

We compared the prevalence of 8 polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor and mannose-binding lectin genes among 105 children and young adults with fatal influenza with US population estimates and determined in subanalyses whether these polymorphism...